A Rant Here, A Rant There

I'm a bit proud of myself. I had vowed to finish the section I was reading/researching before I would email or blog, and here I am, with that section finished!

I was tempted to break that vow, though, because a lot has been boiling in me for the past few days. My entries have been, for the most part, pretty uppity as I recount the days and post up pictures here and there. And all of those are accurate. I am having a good time learning what it is like to live in another country, and seeing the sights of Ireland can never be regretted.

But this program is slowly suffocating me. I might have mentioned a few times that I can't really find my niche with the people here. I can talk and joke, share about my life, and they do the same in reverse. I hung out with them fairly comfortably in N.I., though I was pretty annoyed, in general, at being around a big group of people all the time.

The classes we're taking are academic jokes. Fifteen hours of these jokes per week. The reading is elementary, and the lectures are either pointless or Irish-biased. The papers we're assigned only feel worth the effort for the grade rather than its educational enrichment. I miss my history classes at BU.

We are still ridiculously far from the city centre, which does not help with this suffocation and loneliness I feel. I usually do things by myself, so that is fine with me. The importance lies in being able to just escape people for a bit in a nice little bookstore or cafe. Sadly, there's nothing that is close and affordable. I see everyone almost every hour of the day throughout the week. Do they wonder why I don't mind sitting alone on the bus or in class?

I don't want to be snooty about it, but this all might have to do with the fact that I am at a very different stage of life than everyone else. Sure, there is someone here who is older than I because she took a year off, but she's still a junior, still a year away from graduating into the real world. Another year of secular grace.

My mind is whirling with all that I must take care of. Should I just go for an internship? Should I ask Maxmedia if they have any job openings? Should I apply to work in CT?

Despite all these questions, I don't regret being here this semester. Right now it just seems that I have to sacrifice something in order to truly enjoy being here for all it's worth.

Next week, granting that the weather and paper-writing/researching goes smoothly, I want to venture out and find "a place," somewhere I can always go to to either do homework or just read. I want to experience Dublin a lot more, and I can't do that whilst sitting in front of the Internet, which I have all the time in America.

Right.

Oh yes, and all of England and some parts of Ireland seem to be freaking out about one inch of snow. No one's going to work, the snow makes breaking news, blah blah blah. England is so awesome.

Of course, I have to give up that mentality temporarily as I tackle this paper about the Gaelic revival and Irish nationalism. I could not have picked a less fitting paper topic. =)